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Chapter 27 - Achieve the Goal (CitC)
"There's no way I can fight at the weapon." Tubba chucked what remained of his club to the ground, hearing it thunk across the hardwood floor of the bridge and hit the wall opposite to him. They had returned to the bridge and had immediately set off from the darkened Comet Observatory, locking in on the weapon's location orbiting the Mushroom World. Tubba, however, had lingered behind at the entrance to the Doomship. The club that he broke in the engine room... he had a very special connection with. Eventually, he had sulked his way back to the bridge, holding the stick that remained of his club as if it was a dear friend he had lost. "My father gave me that at birth." Tubba sighed, sitting down in the nearest chair, staring at an aimless point on the wall. "I thought I'd always have that to remember him with." Gonzales rested his hand on Tubba's shoulder. "Backing out of the weapon isn't a smart idea. You can fight with my club, you beat Clubbette with it. You're the strongest Clubba here." "You know as well as I do that we all have clubs that work for us. It's not a thing that can be just picked and chosen." Only one other club has ever worked for me beyond my own. Karubba's. And that's locked away in the basement of Clubba Castle, in a place I will likely never be able to find before the next fight. ''"I miss that club." Tubba sighed again, looking down at his meaty feet. "Well, ya know what I dink?" Roy lumbered up to Tubba's chair on the other side. The bald Koopaling gave a distinct air of his father as he walked, complete with the ensemble of spiked bracers. Aside from the Bowser doppelganger that was Bowser Jr., Roy resembled his father the most. "I dink dat yer a coward dat don't want ta fight at de weapon." Tubba leapt up to his feet, glaring at Roy. Roy was nearly two feet taller than Tubba, but that did not put him off. "What did you say to me?" Tubba snarled, glaring at the third-eldest Koopaling, feeling distinctly defenceless without his club. Still, if Roy was going to question his bravery, he wasn't going to hold back. "Zat's not zee point." Ludwig stepped between Roy and Tubba. Being about the same height and weight as Roy, Ludwig forced the pink Koopaling to take a step backwards. "Surely you have some ozzer veapon zan zee club?" Crossing his arms, Tubba glared at Roy over Ludwig's shoulder. Save for Bowser Jr., piloting the Doomship, every other person on the bridge had turned to the discussion between Ludwig and Tubba. "I can use my fists, but that's about a third less powerful. Nothing else, though," Tubba informed Ludwig halfheartedly, cursing himself at being so one-dimensional. He had always assumed a club would be available... he was a Clubba, after all. "But that's not true!" Gonzales cried before Ludwig could respond. "Tubba, don't you remember? Your electric powers?" "Tubba can use electricity?" Ludwig questioned, looking at Gonzales skeptically. "Electricity is an incredibly hard art to master." Tubba looked at his hands in shock. ''Of course. I can use electricity. I learned how to in the Glitz Pit. How did I forget about that? In the battles of the Glitz Pit, Chubba had gotten everyone to attempt to learn how to use various types of magic, be it electric, fire or water. Tubba had learned electricity, but it was very poor and not his preferred method of fighting. "Well, the fact that he has distant Electro-Koopa ancestry probably helps." Gonzales explained, looking over at Tubba. "I'm pretty sure he also has Firebreath Koopa ancestry, but I'm not sure." "Vell, vee also have Electro-Koopa and Firebreath Koopa in our ancestry." Ludwig affirmed, gesturing to himself and the rest of the Koopalings. "Vee're primarily Firebreath Koopa. Although, vee do have plenty of Iglator blood in us, Firebreath Koopa and Electro-Koopa make up an equal amount. Clubbas are vone of our closest evolution trees- Spiked Clubbas as well." He then turned to Tubba, "but enough of zis, Tubba, can you or can you not use electricity?" Tubba nodded. "I can, but I'm not very good. The most I can do is bring some down from the sky in a lightning storm, because I can't generate it with my own fingers. It also takes a lot out of me. I'm not a Magikoopa, give me my club any day of the week." He had intended the last part to be humouros, but when he spoke, it came out bitter. "Well," said Iggy, stepping past Roy to stand shoulder to shoulder to Ludwig. Iggy had been the tallest Koopaling in their youth, but as Ludwig, Roy, Morton and Bowser Jr. filled out, he was soon one of the smaller ones again, along with Larry, Wendy and Lemmy. "Ludwig and I aren't that bad with electricity ourselves. Ludwig can teleport with those powers. While it's not impossible to learn the magic of electricity and fire without having some natural blood, it certainly helps." "There's definitely not going to be a lightning storm above the weapon. Obviously." Larry remarked from his position next to his screen. While Tubba had learned they weren't actual computer screens, they allowed the Koopalings to control the exterior weapons with a method not unlike playing a computer game. "So, I don't think electricity is going to be an option." "Not unless he can shoot it from his own fingers," responded Ludwig. "Tubba, focus on a spot on the wall, and will to hit it with electricity. There's not much more to it, you have to have an incredibly clear and focused mind." Tubba did as he was told, but all he did was look stupid, his fingers splayed and his eyes locked on a certain point on the white wall. Trying desperately to clear his mind, all that Tubba could think of was everyone staring at him. Eventually, his eyes began to water and his fingers began to ache, upon which he gave up and sat back down, glaring at the others, daring them to laugh. Surprisingly, all of them, even Roy, stayed silent. "Don't vorry." Ludwig said, turning away to look out the front window. "You have five days. Vonce you've been able to get it down from zee cloud, getting it from your own fingers just takes a little bit of practice. Keep at it, Tubba. Vee need you for zee fight." Tubba worked desperately to get the electricity flowing from his fingers over the next few days during the journey to the weapon. Ludwig popped in at times, but by far, Tubba's main teacher was Iggy. The middle Koopaling was quite hyperactive, which proved to be a benefit when working with electricity, because the reason so few Clubbas could control electricity was their crippling laziness. Spending hours a day staring at a blank point on the wall, his fingers aching from being splayed out so long, Tubba tried to coax electricity from his fingers and onto the wall before him. The second day was as futile as the first, with Tubba only suceeding in tiring his mind out and frustrating himself. On the third day, however, Tubba was able to bring sparks to his fingers. While it wouldn't be any help in battle, it was a definite improvement. By the fourth day, the sparks had grown to a tiny string of electricity between himself and the wall, being able to be called at will. Day five had him being able to cut off the flow of electricity and summon it again at will, and the sixth day had the lightning increasing in power from a mere string of electricity to a high voltage wave of triple-string electricity flowing through the air. It still wasn't as powerful as something Ludwig or even Iggy could summon up, but Tubba was feeling quite confident in his ability to stun his enemies with his electricity and finish them off with his own fists. "Vell?" Ludwig said as Iggy and Tubba re-entered the bridge. "Can he fight at zee veapon?" The question was directed at Iggy, who gave Ludwig a clawed thumbs-up. Ludwig sighed with relief and sat back down in his black, plush chair next to Bowser Jr. "Good. I have a key role for Tubba at zee veapon. Vee'll be zere qvite soon. Zee other battlers are ready." Tubba let his eyes wander to the battlers around the area, where Gonzales was sparring with Blizzerd, the Barribad firing rings of energy toward Gonzales, who was deflecting it with ease with his club. Clubbette was fighting with GB, who kept ducking under her club swipes and then tripping her with his tentacles. Dibby hovered at the side, watching the other battlers. "Roy!" Iggy called to his elder brother, who was looking at his own screen, which was showing the Power Star signal growing. "You're leading the attack, right?" "Ya, dat's me." Roy grunted, but before he could turn back to his screen, Iggy had another question. "Do you mind practice sparring with Tubba here?" Roy let his eyes wander to Tubba, and then back to Iggy. "Seriously?" His tone was disbelieving, as if he couldn't think of a rational reason that Iggy would let him pound Tubba. The middle Koopaling nodded, sending Roy's eyes back to Tubba. As their eyes met, Tubba was slightly startled by the amount of hatred blazing in his eyes, but he didn't have too much time to ponder it. As Roy started toward Tubba, Tubba had an inkling what the rational reason for letting Roy attempt to attack him. Pointing his finger at Roy's belly scales, Tubba, willing it, had a bolt of electricity escape his fingers, slamming Roy firmly on the belly scales and throwing him to the other end of the room. "Heh, thanks, Tubba. I've always wanted to do that." Iggy grinned.